There is much controversy about whether a patent is an appropriate protection me

Question

There is much controversy about whether a patent is an appropriate protection mechanism for software? What are some reasons that it is an appropriate protection? What are some arguments why it is not? Patents only protect within the country that grants the patent. A single company may have to apply for patents in several countries to protect their investment. Discuss your thoughts on this process, as it is time consuming and expensive. Do you feel this is necessary? Do you think a global standard would work? If so, how? Some countries have not recognized or protected intellectual property, including trademarks. Intellectual property piracy has been more common outside the U.S. Why do you think this is? Do many of the countries with high piracy rates have a significant software industry? Discuss reasons for this. Develop an argument whether you think patents are or are not a sufficient protection for software.

Explanation / Answer

There is much controversy about whether a patent is an appropriate protection mechanism for software? What are some reasons that it is an appropriate protection?

Secrecy protection in the patent is sometimes impossible or it has short-term protection.

It requires Extensive examination process

• Non-secret inventions can be copied at low cost forcing the market price down to levels not justifying investments of investors.

• Patents are valuable to start-up companies to attract investments.

An owner of a patent may prevent all others from making, using, selling, or importing the patented invention in the United States

An issued patent can be used to prevent others from utilizing an inventive aspect of a new software program, or from implementing the distinguishing characteristic of a new website. For example, Apple has patented the "bounce-back" feature of iOS, in which a list of items stretches beyond the last item and then bounces back when a user comes to the end of the list. Apple has used this patent to its prevent Android competitors from copying this aspect of its user interface. Similarly, Google has numerous patents on its PageRank system, which helped prevent others from copying Google's search algorithm from their competition with Yahoo, excite, bing etc.

software patents provide much greater protection to software developers than copyright law as copyright law can only prevent the copying of a particular expression of an idea.With computer software, copyright law can be used to prevent the total duplication of a software program, as well as the copying of few expressions of software code, both are examples of "literal infringement". In addition, copyright does provide some protection against non-literal infringement, such as the creation of "cloned" software. However, courts in the US have recently been reluctant to interpret the copyright protection of computer software in a broad manner. In addition, the basic tenet of copyright law is that copyright will protect only the expression of an idea, and not the idea itself, example marketing... Consequently, copyright law will not prevent the creation of a competing program that utilizes the same ideas as an existing program.

Corporate history is replete with examples of corporate warfare between large companies. Large companies such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft have long been shrill advocates of the current patent regime as, time and again, they have benefited from the advantages afforded by patents.

The benefits of obtaining patent protection can be extraordinary, as shown by Stac Electronics' $120 million patent infringement award against Microsoft relating to data compression, or Apple's $1 billion verdicts against Samsung. As developers began to understand the potential of software patents. As an important part of a company’s arsenal in corporate warfare, patents have been used to deny access to important markets, disrupt business cycles, and generate large amounts of licensing revenue.

In addition, to get a patent on computer software can be an expensive process, costing eight to twelve thousand dollars, or maybe more. The choice of whether to pursue patent protection for a software invention should be made by comparing the value of the program to the likelihood of obtaining significant patent protection and the ability one would have to enforce the patent against potential infringers.

What are some arguments why it is not?

The protection of computer software has been highly debated at the national and international level. For example, in the European Union (EU), a draft Directive on the Patentability of Computer-implemented Inventions has been discussed in order to harmonize the interpretation of the national patentability requirements for computer software-related inventions, including the business methods carried out via the computer. The Internet raises complex issues regarding the enforcement of patents, as patent protection is provided on a country-by-country basis, and the patent law of each country only takes effect within its own borders.

A patent must be applied for, in principle, in each country in which you seek patent protection. In order to protect, an application for a patent shall comply with both formal and substantive requirements, and a patented invention shall be disclosed to the public. These requirements can be legally and technically complex, and their compliance often requires legal experts assistance. Compared with copyright protection, the term of protection is much shorter, namely, in general, 20 years from the filing date of the application.

This topic is manifold. But one of the strongest reasons is that copyright protection extends only to expressions, and not to ideas, procedures, novel, and methods of operation or algorithms as such.

However, due to the complex requirements for the grant of patents, the costs for obtaining and enforcing a patent may be costly. Unless you have important financial resources, it may be worth considering whether patenting your software-related innovation is the best way to protect your product. The possibility and feasibility of using other types of intellectual property, such as trademarks, industrial designs, and trade secret protection, may also be considered.

conclusion:

Rights which are granted by a U.S. patent extend only throughout the territory of the United States and have no effect in a foreign country, an inventor who wishes patent protection in other countries must apply for a patent in each of the other countries or in regional patent offices. Almost every country has its own patent law, and a person desiring a patent in a particular country must make an application for patent in that country, in accordance with the requirements of that country. Similarly, local laws apply to trademark, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property in each jurisdiction.

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